MoreLANCASTER, Pa. - Lowe's Cos. Inc. will buy less laminate flooring from Armstrong Holdings Inc., beginning in the first quarter of 2005, Armstrong officials said Monday.
The decision by Lowe's, the nation's second-largest home-improvement chain, is expected to reduce Armstrong's sales by about $60 million a year and will hurt its operating income in 2005.
Julie Yenichek, a spokeswoman for Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's, would not say why the company was reducing its flooring purchases.
"Armstrong is still a large supplier of Lowe's," she said.
Lancaster-based Armstrong, which makes floors, ceilings and cabinets, had net sales of more than $3 billion in 2003. The company operates 44 plants in 12 countries and has approximately 15,000 employees worldwide.
